Past And Future, Part One

A lengthy, unannounced hiatus here at the Mighty Blog of Fun(tm) caused speculation throughout the Northeast Ohio media industry – or, at least, the part of that industry that reads this site.

You know what happens when rumors and speculation run rampant in radio and television…sometimes it’s true, sometimes, it’s not true.

We don’t know who runs it, but a Twitter account that has tried to fill the “lack of information” gap in area media news stated that he/she/they believed that we were “forced” to shut this blog down…presumably by some sort of employer.

That is 100% incorrect, as our absence is entirely voluntary, and whoever is behind that account had to walk back from a couple of other posts.

We feel for them, as we went through some of this in the early years of this blog.

We confidently posted, based on our information, that an iconic Cleveland FM morning drive host was soon to retire. He didn’t, that year…though he did somewhat later on, recently semi-un-retiring as the co-host of a one-hour daily show.

The fallout from our report got at least one manager very angry with us, and for that, we apologize.

Our point is that we really, really try to strive for accuracy here. (If we’re accurate, we don’t really care who is upset that we let the feline out of the paper enclosure before someone wanted it out.)

We are somewhat more cautious than the other Twitter account, which seems to be a good place for more of the “raw” rumor information we generally avoid.

But our larger point is this: we haven’t been around because we are trying to figure out if we want to continue this effort.

There’s no drama there, as Amanda Naughton may have said on TV some years ago.

We haven’t stepped back because of any particular reason, up to and including negative feedback or demanding readers who can’t live without finding out what happened to a morning sports talk radio co-host…and who don’t buy it when we post that it appears to have been related to money.

(It still does, by the way, as that former co-host’s employer made deep cuts in other markets not long after that happened, and replaced another morning host here with someone fresh out of college…who has to be making a fraction of the veteran former host’s salary no matter what they are paying him.)

We have stepped back because we are reevaluating the time and effort to continue a blog that is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month.

Yes, 10 years…but is the Mighty Blog of Fun(tm) still fun for its Primary Editorial Voice(tm)?

Do we still want to do this?

Ohio Media Watch does not exist because of any money it may make. We don’t get enough from the ads here to even pay our communications bills. (And no, we’re not asking for money in any other form, so please, don’t offer.)

It’s not about the cash.

We do this because of personal enjoyment. We do this because we like keeping track of local media itself, and sharing that information with others.

We do get a small kick out of the fact that this blog is read by a large number of people in the business here in Northeast Ohio and beyond.

If it’s no fun for us, we don’t want to do it.

The other problem is this: We have been away from keeping track of the media scene here for over two months…and we’re a bit unplugged at the moment.

If we return, it will be more difficult to rebuild what we have had, source-wise.

And even then, it was a bit uneven before.

There are some local operations where we could get a list of what everyone had for lunch an hour after they had it, and other local operations where they could let off a stink bomb in the middle of the place, and we may never hear about it.

Sure, we’d like more sources. (As always, we keep your name out of it and keep confidences. We’d provide examples, but, well, we keep confidences.)

But that decision…we don’t want anyone to put their work situation in jeopardy.

So, if it’s difficult to do this thing and not fun for us (our main objective), we may not resume. Or, we may decide to come back, and go full-tilt.

We appreciate your concern and thoughts, but we aren’t putting up this post to fish for comments. The issues above are very personal, and though input is always valued, it won’t sway our decision either way.

Our current plan is to announce our decision (no, we’re not taking our talents to South Beach, or returning from there) by approximately August 15th…

We are known for our over-navel-gazing, we admit, but this is different from past posts.

And we declined to even post anything like that until our domain expired. Had it not expired, we would have likely remained quiet on this and just come back/not come back on our own timetable.

But we were also getting “are you still alive?” E-mails, expecially after the domain expiration. One actually thought we were gone because the last post here was about a broadcaster who died. (No, we’re not Chuck.)

That said, we are well aware that “Administrivia” is not the favorite category here of many, and will have only one more installment with the decision…and if we do come back, that may just be a brief note before we resume items.

I really appreciate your candor. I come here to stay connected to Northeast Ohio, which will always be home. I will miss it if you decide not to continue. But I totally understand. This site has to be a lot of work and it’s never-ending. Thanks for 10 great years and as many more as you want to do.

Hope y’all decide it is worth it. Enjoy reading your reports about media current and past history…I have always loved a good story. If you decide not to come back…thank you for your service to those of us who looked forward to it.

I remember you were kind enough to answer a question I sent to you a few years back concerning 1100-Triv and the loss of the first host (if memory serves, Dave Ramos) of The Spew. He was quirky but I enjoyed his personality. Your knowledgeable and trusted response sated my curiosity regarding the event. Thanks again and I wish all of you well in all your projects.

As a native Clevelander, a news junkie and a retired member of the print business (aren’t we all?), I appreciated OMW’s reports over the years, including mentions of goings-on in the Dover-New Philadelphia radio business. I even read the posts about new antennas that were being installed. Heavy stuff. Seriously, you need to keep at it just to explain who all these new news people are who work for our Cleveland TV and radio stations and remind us once in awhile that the Cleveland Browns actually pay for that guy on WKNR in the afternoon. Seriously, whatever you decide is OK with me. I understand the work involved and presume you ask the same question I’ve repeatedly asked myself: Is anyone reading this crap?

I enjoy checking each day to see what’s new. If the site is taking too much time, perhaps an option would be shorter items that would take less time to write and edit. I hope you keep with it. I enjoy reading.

Hey, where is part two????? I can update it for you, if you provide me with all of your sources. Let me see “damn I got nothing” well, I guess I will just sit here and wait for part two. Maybe there isn’t anything happening in the Cleveland scene “make something up” lets see “tribe is moving tom Hamilton because he is too loud” “Howard is coming back to Cleveland” “triv is retiring (hopefully)” Just add something so we know you are ok.